Interfacial Gold–Gold Interactions Govern the Mechanical Stability of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Self-Assembled Monolayers

cyclic force spectroscopy and tip-transfer assays collectively confirm that mechanical force induces the extraction of gold atoms, which retain their coordination reactivity as NHC-Au complexes. These findings not only provide mechanochemical evidence for the adatom-mediated binding model but also offer a novel atomic-level strategy for generating single-atom metal centers for future mechano-gated catalysis.